Cashew Chicken

I've fallen a bit behind on my blog posting, but I have good reason. The boy turned three on Friday, so I've been in a birthday frenzy. I have no idea where the past three years have gone--how has it been three years since this amazing little guy graced the world with his presence?! The birthday celebration continues today with our family party for him; yesterday was his birthday party with his friends--12 three year olds (or almost three year olds) in my backyard playing in a bounce house. Insanity...but it was fun.

We had this for dinner on Thursday night, but we'd had a pretty busy day going to check out a preschool with some friends and then taking our kids on a picnic afterwards (we had take out from Whole FOods while the kids had Happy Meals...nice huh?), then I had to get busy cleaning house for my brother coming into town and the party on Friday. I had been wanting to try this recipe for awhile, but for whatever reason it kept getting pushed back in my menu plan. Speaking of menu plan, the recipe is from the Meal Planning 101 blog that I like so much. I was glad I was finally going to try it because Jen A. and Jen B. had both made it and each really liked it. Plus I heart Cashew Chicken. It's hard to find good Chinese food in Phoenix, so I'm always on the lookout for a good recipe I can make myself.

Cashew Chicken
2-3 chicken breasts or 4-5 chicken thighs, chopped up
3-4 tbsp cornstarch
Salt and pepper
8 green onions, chopped
3 cloves of garlic
3 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
¼ cup water
1 cup raw cashews, toasted

Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and season with salt and pepper. Toss the chicken in a bowl with the cornstarch until the chicken is nicely coated. Heat a wok or frying pan with a tablespoon or two of oil over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, add half of the chicken and fry until browned and crispy. Remove from the pan. Add another tablespoon or so of oil and stir-fry the rest of the chicken until crispy. Remove from the pan. Add the white part of the green onion as well as the garlic and stir-fry about a minute or so, then add the rice vinegar. Let the vinegar evaporate (about 30 seconds) then add the chicken back to the pan, along with the hoisin sauce and water. Cook for about a minute or so until the sauce is thick and the chicken is coated. Add the cashews and stir to incorporate. Remove to a plate and top with the green part of the onion. Serve over rice.

*****

This was super easy and sooooo yummy. Mine didn't come out looking as saucy and dark as the picture on the meal planning blog, but it sure did taste yummy. I even added in a little more Hoisin to try and darken it up and sauce it up a bit more. Not a big deal, it was still super yummy. We all really liked it, although the boy didn't eat his cashews. Don't worry, I didn't let them go to waste, I took care of them for him. This is definitely something I will make again. Easy and yummy are two of my favorite combinations!!